


Christmas Eve in Central City

by Cheshire_Cat2244



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Boys In Love, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 10:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16993218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheshire_Cat2244/pseuds/Cheshire_Cat2244
Summary: It's Bart's first Christmas and that calls for a bit of introspection and one Jaime Reyes!Also someone save these two, they're clearly in love!





	Christmas Eve in Central City

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this was sort of spontaneous but it's cute so have it. Sorry for the brief bit of angst but you know how it goes ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.

Snow fell from the sky like a child sprinkling glitter on a card as teenage boy walked down a busy street in Central City. 

Pulling his coat closer, his footsteps leaving indents in the snow like stamps, Bart Allen looked up at the sky which was full of a million stars and smiled.

It was Christmas Eve and he was out enjoying a walk through the city, watching everyone bustle about doing last minute shopping.

As odd as it seems, this is his first Christmas; for there was no Christmas in 2056; and he was determined to enjoy it. 

Bart pulled his hat back down over his ears, his auburn hair tousled slightly and his normally pale nose had turned a rosy red at the tip, faintly spreading across his cheeks like dust.

It was freezing outside but he didn't mind, tonight he just wanted to take things slowly for once, which was rare considering he was a speedster.

Rounding the corner, Bart's jaw dropped and his eyes twinkle like snowflakes as he took in the sight.

Standing before him like a monument of cheer was the biggest Christmas tree he had ever seen. It's leaves were a vibrant pine green and sprouted from the shrouded trunk, embellished with various ornaments.

There were bright flashing lights in all sorts of colours spiralling up it, mixing with the baubles, beads and big red bows. Sitting comfortably on the top was a big white star that glowed like a beacon against the dark blue of the night sky.

Bart was mesmerized.

He let his feet carry him to an empty bench in the plaza and sat down, just admiring the tree with a grin.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he fumbled to awkwardly pull out, hoping he wasn't being called home.

His smile grew larger as the contact name read ‘Jaime’ and answered the call. 

“Hey, Jaime!”

“Hermano! What's up?” The older teen greeted, in a seemingly good mood.

“Oh nothing much, just out in the city. There's this huge tree here! It's so crash!” He babbled, resting his chin in his hand.

“Sounds awesome, ese!” Jaime replied, Bart's good mood rubbing off on him.

“Why'd you call?” 

“Just wanted to check in and say hi. I was gonna ask if you wanted to hang but I guess you're busy.”

“We can totally hang, her-man-o! I'll be over in just a-”

“Wait!” The other boy practically yelled before clearing his throat and amending. “Actually I thought maybe I could come to you?”

“Oh.” The speedster muttered dumbly, “Sure!”

“Okay then, see you soon.” A click on the other like signalled the end of call and Bart's heart fluttered.

The only thing that could make this might more crash was to spend it with Jaime.

He chewed his lip as he relaxed in his seat. He was becoming increasingly aware of his crush on his best friend and wasn't exactly sure what to do about it.

But it was things like the way Jaime always listened to him, if a little exasperated at times. Or the times where they stared at each other's eyes; brown vs green; speaking so much more than they could with words.

And of course it really didn't help that a good forty percent of the time they spend together, Jaime was shirtless for one reason or another.

_Not even for the fun reasons!_

_Wait… bad Bart!_ He mentally berated himself for such thoughts.

Perhaps he was having a 'gay panic' at the internet called it?

A presence next to him startled him from his introspection and caused him to blink owlishly at his new companion. 

It took him a microsecond to realise it was Jaime but when he did, he was beaming. 

The hero smiled warmly down at him, offering a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

Bart gratefully took it, cradling the Styrofoam between his mittens to get some heat back into his hands.

                               ***

Jaime himself was dressed in a pair of old faded jeans, a thick coat and a hat of his own. He looked at the tree and back to the dopey grin on his friend's before playfully sighing, “I can't believe how amazed you are by this. I mean yeah it's pretty awesome and all but you look like it's the most amazing thing you've ever seen.”

“No, you're the most amazing thing I've ever seen.” Bart blurted, before going bright red.

Jaime raised an eyebrow and began to question him, “Uh…”

“I MEAN THE TREE IS SUPER CRASH JUSTLOOKATHOWBIGANDBRIGHTITIS-”

“Woah, slow down dude.” The tanned boy raised his arms in defence, forcing his paler counterpart to calm down and hug himself tightly.

“Um, we never really had Christmas in the future.” 

Ah. There is was. 

Despite his friend stressing to him countless times that the Reach Apocalypse wasn't his fault, Jaime couldn't help but feel guilty over it.

Bart put up a good front and seemed genuinely happy here, but Jaime had spent enough time with him to notice the subtle breaks in that constant excitement, the moments where it was almost as if he was back in that timeline, that lonely future with no one left alive to love him.

Those were the moments were Jaime brushed down his worries that being near him, the Blue Beetle that caused it all would make it worse, and remembered that he wasn't just Blue Beetle, he was also Jaime Reyes: Bart's closest friend. 

In those moments he would wrap his arms in a protective embrace around the smaller boy and say nothing. It always seemed to work.

“Why not?” He heard himself asking. _Argh! Stupid!_

Bart got up and gestured for him to follow before he spoke again. “Well sometimes people would wish you a Merry Christmas but by the time I was born, the magic was gone. There was no hope for salvation so there wasn't really a point in celebration. Most people didn't even have anyone to celebrate with.” 

It was a simple explanation, he supposed, certainly logical. But that didn't mean it wasn't sad.

“Bart, I'm-”

“Don't be sorry. It's not your fault.” A forced smile. 

Jaime pulled them to the side of the street and placed their drinks down.

Bart opened his mouth to question but was cut off by the older of the two pulling him into a tight hug, resting his chin on the shorter boy's shoulder.

“You're not alone anymore, ese.”

He felt Bart bury his face into the crook of his neck and mutter a thank you.

A few more seconds passed before the moment was interrupted, “Hey there's that plant I keep seeing everywhere!” 

Curious, Jaime looked up and felt his face flush, awkwardly pulling away and rubbing the back of his neck. 

Bart looked confused and it was times like this where Jaime wished he wasn't so unaware of things. Or at least for someone else to have to explain. 

“What is it?” The speedster asked.

Jaime chuckled nervously becoming responding, “It's mistletoe.”

“Oh.” _Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't ask._ “What's it for?” _Of course he asked._

“You uh… if there's mistletoe above people it means they have to kiss.” _Dios mio_ this is not how he pictured his evening going.

“Oh.” Again. Bart shrugged at leaned up, planting a kiss on his cheek before turning and briskly walking away, surprisingly not using his speed. 

Jaime was shocked. He had slightly suspected Bart's inclination towards guys as he’d never shown an interest in girls and only commented on the appearance of other boys but _Jaime?_ He did not see that coming.

_**This behaviour is illogical, Jaime Reyes. Cease it!**_ The scarab complained as he stood there dumbfounded.

It's voice brought him back to reality as he grabbed his friend’s shoulder and spun him back around to face each other. “Bart, one question: do you like me?”

The nervous cheesy grin on his face and stuttered, “Of course I do! You're my best friend her-man-o!” confirmed his theory.

                               ***

The look of realisation on his partner’s face told Bart that his crush was no longer a secret.

He wasn't completely sure why he kissed Jaime's cheek in all honesty.

Sure he'd seen girls do it but maybe it was just a girl thing?

He didn't know, gender norms was confusing.

It was impulsive but then again, that's he's known for.

His heart raced faster than it did when he ran as he shakily brought his hands up, deciding to just go for it and crashed his lips against the other's who let out a muffled “Mmph!” of surprise. 

It was quick, and he retreated after a few seconds, wringing his hands together.

“I uh, um…” Jaime's mouth mimicked that of a fish as he struggled to form a coherent sentence.

“Oh man, I've totally crashed the mode. I'm really sorry, I should go-”

“No, wait!” For the second time in a few minutes a hand latched onto his arm, keeping him in place.

“It was… nice.”

His heart stopped as he slowly pivoted on his foot to look at his fellow superhero.

How normal they were in this moment, two teenagers trying to work out their feelings instead of saving the world.

“Really?”

Jaime nodded, letting his hand fall to link with Bart's own.

His eyes flicked down and then back up to those chocolate eyes as he stepped closer. He caught the way the other boy's gaze flashed down to his lips before back into the sea of green.

“Bart?”

“Yeah, Jaime?”

“I think I _like_ you.” 

He giggled, “I like you too.” They inched closer, meeting each other in the middle this time.

They moved in messy unison, gently intertwining their emotions into the kiss, wrapping arms around each other and threading hands into the other's hair.

He heard the scarab clicking in protest and smiled against Jaime's mouth. 

They pulled apart, still holding each other and quietly gasped for breath, their exhaling making visible steam in the air. 

“Mistletoe?” He joked, earning an eye roll but also an endearing smile. “Merry Christmas, Jaime.”

“Merry Christmas, Bart.”

                               ***

Christmas day came and passed, (it was indescribably crash by the way, not without a long phone call to tell each other about their day and gifts during the evening) and the pair found themselves holding hands as they entered the Team Headquarters in full costume.

A few nods and friendly smiles from the team were received as they joined them.

Bart nudged Jaime as he saw Robin reluctantly hand Nightwing a twenty dollar bill. 

“WHAT?” He screeched, “YOU BETTED ON US?” 

Nightwing smirked, “Robin said it would be on New Year's. I said Christmas.” The smug tone earned him a glare but there was no heat behind it.

The room erupted into laughter as he simply threw his hands in air and grumbled, “Bat-kids know everything!”


End file.
